Topics Featured In The Plan:

• Educate student and adult citizen scientists about relevant climate impacts through existing water quality monitoring programs
• Maintain healthy freshwater ecosystems that support thriving fish populations while providing cultural, economic and social benefits
• Include climate change impacts, especially a shifting hydrology, in local and regional planning documents
• Protect riparian areas from further development through policy and regulations
• Monitor ocean acidification and share data throughout community
• Create resiliency in the Nisqually Delta through monitoring and land acquisition
• Provide comment on state and local policy that protects the Puget Sound ecosystem
• Include climate change as a part of the Nisqually River Foundation’s annual budget
• Promote sustainable funding and strong partnerships in order to successfully implement climate adaptation activities
• Utilize an adaptive management framework to update plan as needed
• Establish a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) program to fund implementation sustainably
• Maintain a robust stakeholder engagement plan, ensuring local community members and downstream urban neighbors are actively engaged
• Provide assistance to private landowners so that they can practice forest management in a way that enhances ecological and economic resilience.
• Restore and maintain forest cover that is healthy, resilient and widespread to provide extensive ecological, recreation, economic, and cultural benefits
• Enhance forest canopy cover, particularly in areas of snowpack, to help regulate local climate and minimize impacts of climate change
• Monitor climate impacts throughout local forests and share data among partners to track changes and increase knowledge
• Prepare for changing fire regimes by reducing the risk of catastrophic wildland fires
• Influence policy to limit development within sensitive areas, particularly the Wildland Urban Interface and critical habitat areas
• Increase urban tree cover, making city living more desirable, reducing the impacts of urban heat islands and reducing sprawl
• Maintain adequate resources to implement programs that restore riparian areas and floodplains
• Reduce vulnerabilities related to increased winter flooding through targeted outreach campaigns and restoration activities